Below is a text version of my CV. You can find a nicer-looking PDF version on my academia.edu page.
David Egan
degan@uchicago.edu • 872-226-3553
Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor
Society of Fellows and Humanities Collegiate Division
University of Chicago
Employment
University of Chicago • Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor • 2013–present
Christ Church, University of Oxford • Lecturer in Philosophy • 2012–13
McMaster University • Sessional Instructor • winter 2012
Education
University of Oxford • Oxford, UK • DPhil in Philosophy • 2012
Thesis title: “Disenchanting Philosophy: Wittgenstein, Austin, and the Appeal to Ordinary Language”
Supervisor: Stephen Mulhall • Examiners: Anita Avramides and Simon Glendinning
University of Toronto • Toronto, ON • MA in Philosophy • 2006
Harvard University • Cambridge, MA • BA cum laude in Philosophy • 2000
Areas of Specialization and Competence
AOS: Wittgenstein, 20th Century Continental Philosophy (esp. Heidegger), Aesthetics
AOC: 19th Century Continental Philosophy, Early Analytic Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Animal Studies/Animal Ethics, History of Western Philosophy
Publications
Under Review
Playing on the Rough Ground: Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and the Ordinary. Revise and resubmit at Oxford University Press.
“Games and Stories.” Revise and resubmit at British Journal of Aesthetics.
Forthcoming
“Rehabilitating Austin, Reassessing Grice: The Case of Cancellability.” Forthcoming in Archiv für die Geschichte der Philosophie.
2016
“Literature and Thought Experiments.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 74:2, 139–50.
Review of What Is Fiction For?: Literary Humanism Restored by Bernard Harrison. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 74:2, 212–15.
2013
Wittgenstein and Heidegger (Routledge). Co-edited collection of essays.
“The Authenticity of the Ordinary.” In Wittgenstein and Heidegger (see above), 66–81.
“Introduction” (co-authored). In Wittgenstein and Heidegger (see above), 1–18.
“Playing Well: Wittgenstein’s Language-Games and the Ethics of Discourse.” In The Philosophy of Play (Routledge), ed. Emily Ryall, Wendy Russell, Malcolm MacLean, 54–63.
Review of Heidegger by John Richardson. European Journal of Philosophy 21:S3, 10–15.
2012
“Das Man and Distantiality in Being and Time.” Inquiry 55:3, 289–306.
“Seeing Double: Children and Animals.” The Point 6, 138–42.
2011
“Pictures in Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy.” Philosophical Investigations 34:1, 55–76.
Presentations
(Forthcoming) “Who Is the Happiest Mortal in the Iliad?” Human Being and Citizen Sequence-Wide Quarterly Lecture, University of Chicago, October 2016.
(Forthcoming) “Brazening it Out.” Weissbourd Fall Symposium, University of Chicago, October 2016.
“How To Undo Things With Words: Wittgenstein and Heidegger on Dissolving Philosophical Problems.” Institut Catholique de Paris, November 2015.
“Homo neotenicus and Homo ludens.” “The Human Difference” Conference, University of Oxford, 24 July 2015.
“Rehabilitating Austin: A Critical Appraisal of Grice’s Criticism.” Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Society, University of Warwick, 11 July 2015.
“Later Wittgenstein as Literature.” Literature and Philosophy Workshop, University of Chicago, 28 May 2015.
“Transformation and Improvisation in Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy.” 2nd Biennial Performance Philosophy Conference, Chicago, 12 April 2015.
“Games and Stories.” Colloquium Presentation at APA-Pacific Division Conference, Vancouver, 2 April 2015.
“How To Undo Things With Words: Wittgenstein and Heidegger on Dissolving Philosophical Problems.” Wittgenstein Workshop, University of Chicago, 13 February 2015.
“Explanations and Ordinary Language.” “Know Thyself” Conference, Prometheus Trust, London, 5 July 2014.
“The Deferral of Authority in the Opening Passages of St. Augustine’s Confessions and Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations.” Paradoxes of Authority/Authority of Paradoxes Conference, University of Chicago, 10 May 2014.
“Rehabilitating Austin.” University of Chicago’s Society of Fellows Workshop, 14 March 2014.
“Stories as Games.” Weissbourd Fall Symposium, University of Chicago, 18 October 2013.
“Later Wittgenstein as Literature.” University College Dublin Philosophies of Philosophy conference, 18 June 2013.
“The Difficulty of Description.” Oxford Post-Kantian Seminar, 5 February 2013.
“Later Wittgenstein as Literature.” Art as a Mode of Enquiry, graduate symposium, University of Oxford, 17 June 2012.
“Wittgenstein and Play.” Philosophy at Play Conference, University of Gloucestershire, 12 April 2011.
“The Authenticity of the Ordinary in Wittgenstein and Heidegger.” Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference, 20 November 2010.
“Recollection and Authenticity in Wittgenstein and Heidegger.” University of Sussex Graduate Conference on Phenomenology, 20 May 2010.
“Sceptical Themes: Groundlessness and the Uncanny in Heidegger and Wittgenstein.” University of Southampton Graduate Conference, 6 June 2009.
“What is Philosophical Knowledge, and How is it Possible?” Oriel Interdisciplinary Student Conference, Oriel College, Oxford, 16 May 2009.
“Necessity, the First Person Plural, and the Appeal to Ordinary Language in Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy.” North American Wittgenstein Society, APA-Pacific Division Conference, Vancouver, 8 April 2009.
“What’s the Difference Between Humour and Horror?” Ockham Society, Oxford, 27 January 2009.
“Bringing It All Back Home: Humour, Nostalgia, and the Ordinary.” University of Toronto Graduate Conference, 10 May 2008.
“Words Are Not Dead: Humour, Seriousness, and Irony in the Work of J. L. Austin.” University of British Columbia Graduate Philosophy Conference, 7 April 2006.
Academic Awards and Distinctions
APRA (Adrian Piper Research Archive) Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship: 2011–12
Oriel College Graduate Scholarship: 2010–11
John Locke Prize in Mental Philosophy, subsidiary prize: 2008
One of two runner-up prizes in a competition open to all Oxford graduates in their first three years of study
SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada) Doctoral Fellowship: 2008–11
Clarendon Fellowship: 2007–10
For overseas students at Oxford, awarded to fewer than 10% of eligible candidates
Overseas Research Studentship: 2008–10
Graduate Studentship in Philosophy: 2007–10
John Harvard Scholarship: 1998
Harvard College Scholarship: 1997, 1999, 2000
Signet Society for the Arts and Letters (Harvard): 1999–2000
Service
2014–15: Weissbourd Conference Coordinating Fellow: co-chair
2012–13 Christ Church Undergraduate Philosophy Reading Group: convener
2012–13 Oxford Post-Kantian and European Philosophy Seminar: co-convener
2012: Christ Church College undergraduate admissions: interviewer
2009 Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference: session chair
2009 Warwick Philosophy and Literature Graduate Conference: commentator
2008 Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference: conference organizer
Oxford University Buddhist Society: treasurer, 2008–09; president 2009–10
Referee work: Synthese (2016), European Journal of Philosophy (2015), Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2015), Brill Publishers (2015), Canadian Philosophical Association Annual Congress (2014), Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference (2008–10), University of Toronto Graduate Philosophy Conference (2005–6)
Teaching Experience
Collegiate Assistant Professor • Humanities Collegiate Division, University of Chicago • 2013–present
“Human Being and Citizen”: Humanities course for first-years in the University of Chicago’s core curriculum. I lead seminars that examine philosophy, literature, theology, and rhetoric from antiquity to the twentieth century, including works by Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and Kant.
Lecturer in Philosophy • Christ Church and Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford • 2012–13
Undergraduate tutorial instructor, responsible for one third of the philosophy teaching at Christ Church. I taught tutorials in General Philosophy (introductory metaphysics and epistemology), History of Philosophy (Descartes to Hume), Post-Kantian Philosophy, Later Wittgenstein, and Aesthetics. I also co-convened a seminar entitled “How Should We Think About Animals?” that attracted a mixture of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.
Sessional Instructor • McMaster University, Hamilton, ON • January–April 2012
Principal instructor for “Technology & Society II” in McMaster’s prestigious Arts & Science Program. I developed an original course that examined the place of non-human animals in contemporary technology of society. The course consisted of a mixture of lectures and seminars.
Tutorial leader • Oxford University • 2009–10
Undergraduate tutorial instructor in General Philosophy (introductory metaphysics and epistemology); Post-Kantian Philosophy; Frege, Russell, and Early Wittgenstein; Later Wittgenstein; and Wittgenstein and Heidegger, a special course for a visiting student that I developed myself.
Other Skills and Interests
Languages: Near fluency in French and German, some Russian
Theatre: I have written plays that have been produced professionally in the United States, England, and Canada, and translated into German. The Fly-Bottle, which deals with Wittgenstein’s notorious encounter with Popper, was nominated for the American Theater Critics Association’s New Play Award in 2003. My plays have won numerous awards and distinctions, including the Herman Voaden National Play Writing Competition in Canada. I have also acted, directed, and translated for the stage.
Outdoors and travel: I have traveled extensively, both for pleasure and as a researcher-writer for the Let’s Go travel guides. I enjoy surfing, sailing, rock climbing, and running, but above all walking, and have hiked countless mountainous miles in North America, Britain, Europe, Turkey, Nepal, India, Siberia, Iran, Myanmar/Burma, and Ethiopia.
References
Prof. Stephen Mulhall
New College, University of Oxford
stephen.mulhall@new.ox.ac.uk
Prof. James Conant
University of Chicago
jconant@uchicago.edu
Dr. Joseph Schear
Christ Church, University of Oxford
joseph.schear@chch.ox.ac.uk
Prof. Ronald de Sousa
University of Toronto (emeritus)
ronald.de.sousa@utoronto.ca
Dr. Anita Avramides
St. Hilda’s College, University of Oxford
anita.avramides@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk
Prof. Michael Kremer
University of Chicago
kremer@uchicago.edu
Dr. Samantha Fenno (teaching reference)
University of Chicago
sfenno@uchicago.edu
Dr. Jean Wilson (teaching reference)
McMaster University
asdir@mcmaster.ca
